Mankind destroyed itself, leaving cats and dogs to continue the rock & roll legacy. Mok, an evil musical genius, wants to summon a demon so that he can rule the world. Ironically, the girl whose voice can open a portal to Hell is an anthropomorphic cat named Angel.

I remember seeing this the first time it aired on TV. I was a little young to get some of the subtler bits, but I liked it. Wouldn't mind seeing it again.

The last few minutes of the movie are fantastic. Well, except for the goofy stuff with Dizzy and Stretch, and the skating goon who wants to be "good." Still, Omar and Angel facing the demon, Mok screaming from his floating control booth, and the wild images and music was great.

I imagine it was intense and memorable for a younger lad, especially if you were a preteen. I wonder if the silly Bluth-ness wouldn't seem so bad to someone that age.

At that age (I must have been 12 or so), it seemed pretty edgy for a cartoon. I always put it in the same league as Heavy Metal, but that's because Heavy Metal made a similar impression on me when I saw it years later. I'm sure it's apples and oranges. Given that I haven't seen R&R in over 20 years, I'm sure I'd probably see the Bluthiness much more. I'm going to have to see if I can find a copy for rent. It would bring back some memories. I remember laughing my butt off at the Uncle Mikey show.

Just checked to be sure Nelvana, the Canadian company that made R&R, wasn't connected with Heavy Metal. According to Wikipedia, they were invited to contribute, but declined, because they were working on an animated feature of their own (guess which one).

Nelvana made quite a few animated films that stand out in my memory as being just a bit more edgy and weird than most of the cartoon fare aimed at kids at the time. Nelvana produced the Devil and Daniel Mouse, Romie-0 and Julie-8, Cosmic Christmas, the Boba Fett cartoon from a certain holiday special I will not name here, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Mind you, that was their earlier work. They produced a lot of cutesy stuff later on, like Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. Looking back, it's actually surprising how much that one company contributed to the cartoons I remember.

If it's a cartoon, I want to see it. Animation is really the one medium I never tire of. I sat down expecting this one to be stunningly awkward and dated. It was. Maybe I would have been more inclined to keep it in my library if the music hadn't struck the wrong chord with me song after song. I still strongly recommend it to other animation fans, of course.

It does make me sad that anything between Disney and Anime seems doomed to obscurity, even if this one deserved it.

Btw, if the Don Bluth haters out there still haven't seen The Secret of Nyhm, you haven't seen Don Bluth.

Logged

"Do you have something against droppings?" "Well, no, I..." "Sure, everyone says that till they step in it."

Btw, if the Don Bluth haters out there still haven't seen The Secret of Nyhm, you haven't seen Don Bluth.

That and the original "Land Before Time" are a toss-up for my favorite of his works. For a while, my group of friends had nicknames from "The Land Before Time." I watch it (or "Nimh") today, and they are still very good films.

The problem with Bluth, for me, is that he is so uneven. The movie will be very serious, with an interesting plot and inventive visuals, then suddenly something goofy happens. Goofy even to a ten year old.

Nelvana made quite a few animated films that stand out in my memory as being just a bit more edgy and weird than most of the cartoon fare aimed at kids at the time. Nelvana produced the Devil and Daniel Mouse, Romie-0 and Julie-8, Cosmic Christmas, the Boba Fett cartoon from a certain holiday special I will not name here, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Mind you, that was their earlier work. They produced a lot of cutesy stuff later on, like Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. Looking back, it's actually surprising how much that one company contributed to the cartoons I remember.

The 2-disc collector's edition DVD, which is what I link to in the review (and what I own) has "The Devil and Daniel Mouse" included as an extra. It was neat to see that again, because I remembered it from my childhood.

According to the DVD notes, Mok's last name is Swagger -- however, due to objections by Mick Jagger's lawyers, his last name is never mentioned.

Mok is a very interesting character. He clearly doesn't believe in magic, even though he uses "magic" imagery in his self-promotion; he says that summoning the demon will be "a triumph of science". But the real reason why he's summoning a demon? It'll make an unforgettable stage show and thus prop up his sagging career.

The demon itself was made by photographing ground hamburger, then painting over the cels.

I actually really like this film, and recently got the special edition DVD for my birthday from a family member. I think the animation is fantastic, I love the voice actors, and the background art as well as overall concept is amazing. I'll agree on a first viewing the storyline seems a bit uneven and plodding at times, but as another reviewer said about this film, it starts growing on you. It's definitely unique and has a feel all its own (I actually didn't think it felt any thing like a Don Bluth film). I say it deserved at least four slime...stars...whatever.

By the by, a little trivia some people might find interesting: the company that made this later went on to do Inspector Gadget, the Care Bears, and a lot of other famous cartoons from the 1980's and early 90's. A lot of the people who worked on it later went on to become big in Canada - the character design alone is somewhat recognizable to those Americans who grew up watching "The Raccoons" on Disney.

Great movie. Am I alone in thinking it would actually have made more sense if they hadn't "explained" why the characters were anthropomorphic animals?

Also, I once had a comic adaptation of this movie that was made from stills with speech baloons laid over them. Some parts of it were very different from the movie. For instance, it actually showed the concert in Nuke York. In the comic, the "My Name is Mok" song was actually what Mok used to open the Nuke York concert. He had Angel sing and ... KABOOM! It then went into the parts with the broadcaster commenting on the explosion and Mok's computer telling him to go back to Ohmtown.